Tuesdays with Dorie: Perfect Party Cake

Like many of you, I’ve made the Perfect Party Cake before, but it was so good that when I saw that Carol of mix, mix… stir, stir picked it for TWD, party or no party, I was happy to give it a second go! Since I had stayed pretty true to the original last year, this time around I thought I’d switch up the flavors a bit. Instead of using lemon zest and juice, I put almond extract in the cake itself and matcha powder in the buttercream frosting (I just added both flavors to taste). I skipped the jam component and sprinkled toasted sliced almonds over each layer. Good, good stuff!

The original cake is made from two thicker layers that are halved to make a four-layer cake…I simplified things a bit here, and just baked three thinner ones and used them as-is (or as-was, I guess). After making it twice now, the cake doesn’t seem to be an incredibly high-riser…but it was soft, moist and had a great fluffy texture both times, so I’m assuming that’s the norm. Dorie herself weighed in on the TWD site with some tips to achieve party cake perfection– check them out here.

Steph, Thanks for showing us your beautiful variations. I’ve never used Matcha pwdr but have seen it on Chockylit. Guess I’ll have to order or go to STL to get some. Love the great ideas, almond, almond extract. My lemon extract was a little strong so I need to adjust, even though I love tangy and strong lemon the extract flavor was a little overpowering. Second time to bake, 1st time gave away so I was excited about this go’round. Yours is gorgeous. Loved this cake and all the possibilities.
AmyRuth

My favorite thing each week is to see how people take the recipe and make it their own with the creative genius that abides within them…you are one of those people! I love the topping on this…you win with this combination. Are you on Twitter?

I love… and I mean LOVE anything green tea. ANYTHING. I actually just finished eating some green tea probiotic frozen yogurt. I could eat it morning, noon, and night! I wish I had a piece of that cake!

Oh, this looks great. I just made some matcha tea macarons. Similar matcha/almond combination as you have here. The combination is really delicious. I’ve never made anything with green tea powder before. I was thinking of making some ice cream with the powder. But I wouldn’t have thought about cake frosting. Great idea! I am also very excited as my own Dorie book *finally* arrived this week from Mr Amazon. I’ve been flicking through it drolling over the recipes. I must try and join the Tuesday group. Lovely, lovely cake again, as always!

Hi kayte! I’m excited to try this cake for a birthday party next week- could you possibly give me any more specifics about the changes you made, as I am less versed in cake making? Such as an approximation of how much almond extract & matcha powder? Thank you so much, can’t wait to try!

I made this so many years go, I don’t exactly remember. I’d go with a 1/2 teaspoon extract in the cake. When you make the frosting, start ith 2 teaspoons matcha, and taste it. You can add more if not strong enough.